Scientific

Although state and utility officials are contending that past scientific studies support their use, advanced or smart electricity and natural gas meters have drawn a number of protests from consumers in Northern California who allege there are public health risks from advanced metering devices that use radio frequencies to communicate with a network.

Producers said they were encouraged Friday when Energy Secretary Stephen Chu, the top scientific expert in the Obama administration, expressed support for hydraulic fracturing (hydrofracing), which is being used to stimulate production from an increasing number of shale natural gas wells.

Researchers at Denver, CO-based Luca Technologies Inc., in a scientific paper last Tuesday, debunked the general belief that natural gas is a finite source that has been around for hundreds of years. They concluded that a group of living microbes are generating natural gas in real-time fashion within coal found in the Powder River Basin in northeastern Wyoming.

Researchers at Denver, CO-based Luca Technologies Inc., in a scientific paper Tuesday, debunked the general belief that natural gas is a finite source that has been around for hundreds of years. They concluded that a group of living microbes are generating natural gas in real-time fashion from coal found in the Powder River Basin in northeastern Wyoming.

Researchers at Denver, CO-based Luca Technologies Inc., in a scientific paper Tuesday, debunked the general belief that natural gas is a finite source that has been around for hundreds of years. They concluded that a group of living microbes are generating natural gas in real-time fashion from coal found in the Powder River Basin in northeastern Wyoming.